Of Magic, Midwives, Adventures, and Near-Death Experiences
by MidniteLover99
Summary: Adelaide's friends lead her to adventures that involve magic, swordfights, new friends, and maybe even the one adventure she was certain she never wanted to have...Will include slash in later chapters, just a warning ahead of time
1. Prologue

**If I owned Merlin, I wouldn't be writing this**

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Prologue

"Oh!" exclaims the girl as Merlin nearly walks into her.

"Oh, sorry." Merlin laughs.

The girl laughs, too. "It's fine. But best you be more careful, you don't want to hurt yourself."

"Merlin, who's there?" Gaius calls from inside the room.

"It's Adelaide, Gaius!" the girl, Adelaide, calls to him. Then, she turns back to Merlin. "I'm Adelaide, by the way. Call me Ada. And you're the famous Merlin, manservant to the prince." she says, pushing past him and entering the physician's chambers.

"Yeah…how do you know who I am?"

"Gwen's told me about you. Gaius, have you got any elder root?" she says to the old man.

"Of course." Gaius takes a box down from a shelf. "How many do you need?"

"Um, just the one should be alright." Gaius hands her the root.

"Is Jeremy having nightmares again?" he asks her.

"Yes, it appears my last solution wasn't strong enough. This should work. Thank you, Gaius." she says, putting the root in the basket she was carrying.

"Of course, my dear."

"Why does she need elder root?" Merlin asks, sounding more confused than he meant to.

"Ada is a midwife, of sorts."

"I don't just do childbirths. I am a physician of sorts, but only for the children. The adults come to Gaius with their problems, and the children come to me with theirs."

"You take care of children?" She nods. Merlin grins. "That sounds like fun."

"Oh, it's hellish. You'd think it would be sunshine and butterflies all the time, but it isn't. Children plagued by nightmares can get very, very agitated very, very easily." she laughs. "Anyway, Gaius, thank you for the root." She turns back to Merlin. "It was very nice to meet you, Merlin." she says with a smile and a wink before leaving.

Merlin blinks at her. "Did she just flirt with me?" he asks Gaius.

Gaius raises his eyebrows. "I highly doubt it. And if she did, she meant nothing by it."

"Good." Merlin says. "I'm not interested in women anyway."

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**A/N: So, obviously this will have Merthur in it, because of that^^^ HI EVERYONE! Did you miss me? Probably not. I'm so alone *cries* I couldn't not write this, I'm sorry. Anyway, I have absolutely no idea how many chapters this is going to have, this is just the prologue, and I'm writing it as I go along. I'm the Gwaine episode, and I won't be watching it in a while, so there's time for me to catch up with this. This will be highly AU, so Morgana will never go bad, and some people that I liked that died won't die. Adelaide is my own original character, copyright on her. This will contain Merthur, Perwaine, probably Leon/Morgana, Gwen/Lancelot, and Ada/? it's a mystery! He is not an OC, and he doesn't come in until much later. But I know, and you don't! Na na nana na! Hahaha. I'm funny. Not. So feel free to review and guess who it might be...or just review. That'd be nice. R&R please, thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Title: Of Magic, Midwives, Adventures, and Near-Death Experiences  
Chapter Rating: K+  
Chapter Genre: Friendship  
Based on the Episode: The Poisoned Chalice  
Unbeta'd  
Word Count: 1083  
Enjoy!**

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Chapter One

Adelaide bursts through the door into Gaius' chambers. "I heard a rumor, and please tell me it isn't true!" she cries. "Please tell me he hasn't actually been…" She trails off when she sees Merlin laying on the bed, sweating out buckets, and moving around, grunting and groaning. "...poisoned." she finishes.

"I didn't realize you were friends with Merlin, Adelaide." Arthur says, recognizing Ada from the castle halls.

Ada sees the prince and dips her head in a makeshift bow. "I didn't realize you were friends with him either, my lord." she says, dropping to her friend's side. "Will he be alright?" she asks Gaius.

"He has been poisoned by the Mortaeus flower." Gaius says, sullenly. "He will die unless the antidote is found."

"And that's where Arthur comes in." Gwen says with a smile. Ada looks between her and Arthur.

Arthur rolls his eyes. "I am going to go into the Forests of Balor to retrieve the flower so Gaius can make the antidote."

Ada's eyes widen. "You mustn't, Sire! Allow someone else to go in your place!"

"No, Adelaide. He has saved my life more than once, this is the least I can do for him in return."

"Sire, what if you do not return? Both you and Merlin will die, then!"

"This has crossed my mind, but the answer is simple." Arthur places his hand on Ada's shoulder. "I will not die."

Ada raises an eyebrow, similar to Gaius. "Well, in that case, what are you still doing here?"

Arthur pats her shoulder with a smile. "That's the spirit."

Twenty minutes after Arthur leaves, Merlin begins tossing and turning. Gaius has left to get a book from the royal library, in hope that it would tell him something about ways to make Merlin more comfortable or to slow down the effects of the poison, leaving him with Gwen and Ada.

Ada gently holds Merlin's hand, dabbing at his forehead and face with a rag soaked in cold water. Gwen sits on the other side of Merlin, watching Ada. "You have the magic touch, Ada, I swear." Gwen says with a smile as Merlin's movement slows.

Ada smiles too. "Magic is nothing to be joked about, Guinevere." she said, slightly mocking King Uther.

Gwen laughs at that. "You shouldn't mock the king, Adelaide." she says, slightly mocking Gaius. "But honestly, you were born for this."

Ada's smile turns sad. "That's what my mother used to tell me."

Gwen leaned over Merlin and put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm sure she's proud of you, Ada." she says softly.

Just then, Gaius walks back into the room. Ada stands up. "Did you find anything?"

Gaius shakes his head. "There is no way to slow the flower's effect. I suggest we try to keep his fever down and make him comfortable until Arthur returns."

"That's what Ada's been doing." Gwen says. Gaius raises an eyebrow.

"Apparently Merlin is more like a child than we all originally thought." Ada says with a smile. "My methods usually only work on children."

Gaius smiles. "Well, we all knew Merlin was a child at heart. Have you ever taken care of anyone older than a child before?" Ada shakes her head. "Well, then, maybe it works with everyone."

Ada smiles and turns back to Merlin, still dabbing at his face and holding his hand. "Arthur will be back soon." she whispers to him in a soothing tone. "Don't worry, sweetheart. You'll be alright." She gently kissed his forehead, trying to ignore how hot his skin is.

Morgana hears a knock on her door. "Come in." she says, setting down her hairbrush. Ada enters. "Ada, where is Gwen?" she asks.

"Gwen didn't want to leave Merlin. He's getting worse." Ada says, setting down some blankets on Morgana's bed.

Worry flashes across Morgana's face. "He'll be alright, won't he?"

Ada smiles. "Of course he will be, my lady. Do you think Arthur will fail?"

Morgana smiles back. "Of course not. But will the antidote work?"

"Gaius says so. And I believe him."

"As do I. Thank you, Ada. Tell Gwen and Gaius I say good night."

Ada curtsies. "Good night, my lady. Either Gwen or I will alert you if Merlin…" Ada's face falls. "You know."

Morgana gives her friend a reassuring smile. "He won't, Ada."

"Any change?" Ada says, entering Gaius' chambers. Gaius looks grim, and Gwen looks worried. "Something is wrong, what's happened?"

"The flower's poison has been enhanced by magic." Gaius says. Ada's eyes widen. "Merlin has less time than we previously thought."

"Then it wasn't King Bayard who-"

"No, it was not." Gaius says. "It was Nimueh."

"The sorceress?"

"Yes. She disguised herself as a maid. She was the one who informed Merlin of the poison in the goblet."

Ada covers her mouth with her hand. "That is unbelievable."

After a , Merlin starts to make noises. They sound almost like words, but if they are words, they are words of a language long forgotten. Gwen and Ada rush to their friend's side. "Is he alright? What's he saying?" Gwen asks, sounding panicked.

"He is fine." Gaius says. "He's just...delirious."

Then, a villager bursts through the door to Gaius' chambers, panting heavily with a mortified expression on his face. His eyes widen when he spots Ada. "Ada! There you are!" he practically shouts.

Ada stands up. "Henry, what's wrong? Is Becky alright?"

"That's it exactly! She's gone into labor!"

Ada slaps her hand over her mouth. "But she's not due for three more weeks!"

"I know! Ada, please come. I fear something may be wrong."

Ada looks to Gaius and Gwen. Gaius nods, and Gwen stands up and places her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Go, Becky needs you more than Merlin does right now. I'll come get you if he...worsens." she says.

Ada nods and leaves with Henry. "Arthur better get back soon." she mumbles under her breath.

It's at least four hours later when Becky and Henry's child is born, a healthy baby girl. Ada makes sure that both Becky and their daughter- who is named Helena- are healthy before rushing back to Gaius' chambers. As she opens the door, she grins wide and hurries inside.

"I knew you'd be alright." she says, hugging Merlin tightly.

"It's all thanks to Arthur." Merlin says, hugging her back.

"I'll be sure to thank him next time I see him. Maybe the prat will appreciate you more now."

"Hopefully." Merlin says with a laugh.

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**A/N: Okay, so this is the first chapter. I have renamed this story to "Of Magic, Midwives, Adventures, and Near-Death Experiences" because my friend (who came up with the title "The Midwife" by the way!) informed me that that sounded like some sort of HBO original series. And after that, I couldn't keep it. Anyway, I promise you, the future chapters will be better than this one! This one is a bit choppy and a bit short because this isn't an episode I've seen more than once, so it's very meh. I promise, they will get better though. I really feel like no one reads this, bleh. Whatever. Well, here's the first chapter. Next one coming hopefully sooner than later. Anyway, bye!**


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